


I've said goodbye (set it all on fire)

by Elisexyz



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Love/Hate, Season/Series 02, Secret Relationship, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 20:24:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16144838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elisexyz/pseuds/Elisexyz
Summary: “Myex?” Jemma scoffs, when she meets Hunter’s eyes. She stays turned towards him, but she can feel Grant’s gaze fixated on her. “Yeah, I’d still hit that.” Even without looking, she knows that Grant is grinning like the smug dumbass he is. “Except this time it would be with a car,” she adds, casually, with a benevolent smile. “Or a baseball bat.”“Aw, come on, baby, don’t be like that,” Grant protests, and this time Jemma turns just to raise her eyebrows at him, unamused.“Wait,” Hunter says, positively gaping. “The two of you…?”





	I've said goodbye (set it all on fire)

**Author's Note:**

> For the Tumblr prompt: [“My ex? Yeah, I’d still hit that. Except this time it would be with a car or baseball bat.” + Biospecialist](http://heytheredeann.tumblr.com/post/178610178864/not-on-the-list-but-my-ex-yeah-id-still-hit). Honestly I am not sure where this came from LOL.

Jemma doesn’t have a particular grudge against Hunter, not really – actually, before this mission she had never been around him long enough to go past a fleeting first impression –, but right now she’d much rather be spending her evening with somebody else.

Namely, anybody who doesn’t talk that much about their ex: the subject matter is bound to get annoying after a while no matter what, but it gets particularly tricky for her considering that the third man on their mission is _Grant_.

Since their Quinjet doesn’t arrive until tomorrow and they are stuck in Minnesota, Jemma found no reason to excuse herself and refuse Hunter’s request to celebrate their success – not to mention that considering that he is a freelancer, making him enjoy his stay in SHIELD can’t be bad for business –, but now she really wishes she _had_.

Grant, who is sitting on her left side, doesn’t seem to be particularly touched by the subject of the conversation, if anything he’s mildly amused by Hunter’s tales about the ‘She-Devil’ he keeps going on and on about. But then again, Grant is never uncomfortable with anything. When Coulson started pairing them together, it was Jemma who had the hardest time with it, if anything he was _pleased_.

“—and, honestly, she’s the worst, but she’s still hot as hell, I might go for it again if I thought I could survive it, you know?” Hunter announces, gesturing briefly towards the two of them. “I mean, wouldn’t you? If you had the chance to have some fun with a very hot ex—”

“ _My_ ex?” Jemma scoffs, when she meets Hunter’s eyes. She stays turned towards him, but she can feel Grant’s gaze fixated on her. “Yeah, I’d still hit that.” Even without looking, she knows that Grant is grinning like the smug dumbass he is. “Except this time it would be with a car,” she adds, casually, with a benevolent smile. “Or a baseball bat.”

“Aw, come on, baby, don’t be like that,” Grant protests, and this time Jemma turns just to raise her eyebrows at him, unamused.

“Wait,” Hunter says, positively gaping. “The two of you…?”

“Oh, yeah,” Grant grins, shamelessly.

“Seriously?” Hunter asks, staring at her with wide eyes.

“Unfortunately,” she sighs, taking a sip of her drink mostly to make her point.

“And you still work together?” he frowns. And yes, that’s a legitimate question. Especially considering that _he_ probably wouldn’t be able to sit across a room from his ex for more than three minutes straight.

“I’m a professional,” Jemma comments, flatly. Well, she is. She tried to be from the beginning, but it took some—some _work_.

“I’m not,” Grant shrugs, sliding a little closer to her and bumping his arm against hers. “But she is professional enough for the both of us.”

Hunter just keeps looking over between the two of them, and if they were in a cartoon his jaw would probably still be on the floor. He shakes his head. “Nope, can’t see it,” he announces. “How did you even— like, Simmons, you are _way_ too smart for that.”

“Thanks, I’ll remember that next time I’m watching your back in the field,” Grant replies, raising his glass to mock a toast.

“In my defence, he was pretending to be a completely different person,” Jemma intervenes, without bothering to hide a very clear hint of bitterness. No, she’s never letting him live it down. Ever.

“Oh, come on,” Grant protests. “I wasn’t faking _everything_ —”

“You were faking enough to seem _nice_ —”

“Saying that my cover was _nice_ is a big stretch. If you ask me, I’m much more likeable.”

“It’s a good thing nobody is asking you, then.”

“Nevermind,” Hunter intervenes, loudly, raising his hands up in defeat. “I see it now. Old married couple, got it. Get a room already.”

 

 

It’s a little after midnight when Jemma hears the usual three knocks followed by a fourth and a fifth shortly after on the door to her hotel room. She quickly moves to open the door, briefly glancing outside to check that the hall is clear, even though she knows that Grant has checked it out already.

“So,” he begins, grinning as he takes a couple of steps towards her. “Where’s your baseball bat?”

She rolls her eyes, beginning to unbutton his shirt – there are few things that she hates more than having to deal with all those buttons, and he _knows_ it, there’s no way he didn’t purposefully pick that shirt as retaliation for her comment.

“Shut up,” she orders, and his grin doesn’t fade one bit.

“You know, you hurt my feelings,” he comments, sliding his hands around her waist.

“You don’t _have_ feelings,” she retorts.

“For you, of course I do,” he says, lightly, before scooping her up without any warning – he often does it, she supposes he finds the mini heart-attacks she gets _amusing_ – and roughly smashing their mouths together as soon as she has grabbed his neck and regained a bit of balance.

He’s obviously joking: this isn’t a _feelings_ thing, they were very clear on that. At least, Jemma was.

The first time it happened, it was nothing short of hate-sex immediately following an argument, and you could say that she started it, considering that she was the one who decided that it’d be a good idea to shove him against the wall to school him better on how to not be so bloody _irritating_ while they were forced to work together.

Back then, SHIELD was trying to rebuild after the Uprising, and they were so incredibly short on personnel that not only Coulson decided that giving Grant a second chance – with the proper restrictions, at least in the beginning – was a risk worth taking, but he couldn’t afford to respect her wishes of being kept as far away as possible from the bastard.

“He seems to be his best-behaved self around you, Simmons,” Coulson had said. “I know it’s not ideal, but can you sit tight for now?”

And, well, what was Jemma supposed to say? Especially considering how Coulson’s new duties as a Director left him worn out.

She had no intention of becoming an additional problem, but that didn’t do anything to prevent her from bursting with rage whenever Grant so much as _looked_ at her, let alone spoke to her – as he was bound to do if they were to work together.

Hence the yelling and shoving against walls. That happened on their third mission together, and Jemma wasn’t quite expecting for it to turn into a full-blown make-out session followed by some admittedly very good sex, but in retrospect— well, their new arrangement made it possible for the two of them to work pacifically: whatever rage Jemma builds up during the mission, she can let out as soon as they get some privacy, and that actually leaves her feeling a bit better disposed towards him than she previously was.

This way, Grant is satisfied, she doesn’t implode with repressed anger, and Coulson gets his favourite Specialist+Scientist team working together as efficiently as ever with minimal incidents. Thinking about it, she’s basically acting for the good of SHIELD there.

 _Yes_ , she confirms in her head as they drop on the bed with a loud, creaking sound that says a lot about the quality of said bed, _I’m most_ _definitely taking one for the team_.


End file.
